Mentally ill stranger threw woman to death from pier
A MAN who pushed a stranger to her death off a pier and then told police it was “just a bit of fun” has been convicted of killing her.
Jacob Foster, 29, killed 25-year-old Charmaine O’donnell on Apr 23 last year while she was on a day trip to Helensburgh in Argyll and Bute.
The High Court in Glasgow was told Foster picked up Ms O’donnell on the pier and carried her to a barrier before pushing her into the sea. A post mortem examination showed she died from neck injuries and drowning.
Foster, who has a learning disability, was convicted of culpable homicide, the Scottish equivalent of manslaughter, after denying murder.
His lawyers had lodged a special defence of diminished responsibility.
He had his bail continued pending sentencing next month.
A group of Ms O’donnell’s family and friends were in court and many sobbed at the verdict. Jacqueline Gallacher, her mother, and Willliam King, her stepfather, said justice had been served.
The couple paid special tribute to the “selfless efforts” of youngsters who tried to help Ms O’donnell at the pier.
Ms O’donnell, of Glasgow, travelled to Helensburgh with a friend, Caitlin Mctaggart, while on furlough from her job as an assistant manager at a British Heart Foundation shop. As the pair chatted on the pier to some men who were fishing, it appeared Foster was trying to get involved, Ms Mctaggart said.
There was then a “commotion” when Ms O’donnell was pushed over the railings at the pier. Ms Mctaggart said: “I was screaming at [Foster] to help her. He just kept saying, ‘What have I done? I have taken it too far this time. I am going away for a long time.’”
Pc Gary Davidson told the jury Foster told him it was an accident, saying: “I just pushed her. It was just a bit of fun.”
Foster also told him he did not know Ms O’donnell could not swim, the officer said. After the verdict, it emerged Foster had a number of previous convictions including assaulting a staff member at a Costa coffee shop in Helensburgh in 2018.